Proposal for Amendments to the Hunting Act 2004 in support of Early Day Motion 122             

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

The Hunting Act is in place.  Don't we just need it to be enforced?

Four years since the ban came into force, it is absolutely clear that hunts are continuing to send their hounds into cover where they know or ought to know wild mammals will be found.  Whenever they are caught chasing a fox or hare, they inevitably say they were "trail hunting", and the pursuit was an "accident".   This situation must be rectified.  The insertion of a reckless behaviour clause into the Act would mean that the claim of an "accident" could no longer be used, as hunters would be guilty of an offence if they "caused or permitted" their hounds to chase live quarry.

Would a reckless clause mean that all dog owners would be at risk of prosecution?

No because the reckless behaviour clause will only apply to persons who, 'while in charge of a pack of dogs used for the purpose of simulating the hunting of a wild mammal, causes or permits those dogs to chase, injure or kill a wild mammal of a species which he knows or ought to know is likely to be found and chased, injured or killed by those dogs at that location’.  Responsible dog owners would have no need to fear the law.

Would the addition of a reckless behaviour clause to the Hunting Act be sufficient?

It is also necessary to close the loopholes currently being exploited by hunters.  

The Gamekeepers exemption is being used as a cloak for terriermen to continue to operate within foxhunts as they always have.  

The Falconers exemption is being exploited by fox hunters as it does not limit the number of dogs which may be used to flush quarry to a bird of prey.  During the cubhunting season, when packs of hounds are traditionally held in a cover and trained to kill fox cubs, foxhunts now take out a bird of prey, and claim, if challenged, that the hounds are flushing foxes from the cover to the bird of prey. In the opinion of hunt monitors, this is utterly false and the birds are incapable of killing a fox.  The falconers themselves strongly object to what the hunters are doing, and they also wish to see this loophole closed.

Also the exemptions which allow the retrieval of a shot hare and the hunting of rats or rabbits are being exploited by beagle packs because there is no limit on the number of dogs which may be used for these activities. Hunts suspected of using an entire pack of beagles for illegal hare hunting simply claim to be operating under one or other of these exemptions whilst mink hunts claim their packs are hunting rats.

 (see 'At a Glance Guide', http://www.powa.org.uk/glance.html  for details of proposed amendments)

Where is the evidence of widespread law breaking by the hunts?

Hunt monitors and members of the public have made a considerable number of complaints to the police of illegal hunting which they have witnessed and filmed.  The overwhelming majority of these have been rejected, sometimes in the early stages by the police, sometimes by the Crown Prosecution Service after the police have gone to considerable trouble compiling the evidence.  The issue always comes back to proving "intent", when the hunters have claimed an accident.  The level of evidence currently being demanded to satisfy the needs of the Act are almost impossible to achieve.  

Doesn't a call to strengthen the Act just play into the hands of the hunters?

On the contrary.  The thing that the hunters fear the most is a strengthening of the Act.   This is illustrated by the words of pro-hunt Conservative MP David  Maclean, when addressing the crowd at the Peterborough Festival of Hunting in 2007.  Mr Maclean said "'This law will be toughened up if Labour wins another election. It is essential that we get political and help Vote OK to get the pro-hunting MPs into parliament.'

Do the public wish to see the Act strengthened?

Polls consistently show that the general public remain overwhelmingly in favour of hunting being prohibited and also that this opinion is shared by the majority in rural areas. The public are aware of the level of lawbreaking currently taking place,  and a poll conducted by the Exeter Express & Echo on 15th January 2009 asking if the Hunting Act should be strengthened resulted in a vote of  86% in favour of strengthening, and only 14% against.  

Won't the police use the assertion that the Act is currently too weak as an excuse not to bother to enforce the ban?

Police officers who have been working closely on the hunting issue have agreed to meet with John McDonnell MP and explain how a strengthening of the Act, as suggested by POWA, would make their job far easier, and aid enforcement considerably.

At the present time public money is being wasted, as police officers work hard compiling evidence of illegal hunting, only to have the cases come to nothing as the CPS reject them on the grounds of the difficulty of proving "intent".  A stronger Act would aid both police and Crown Prosecution lawyers in getting illegal hunting successfully prosecuted.

The police are also concerned about the safety of hunt monitors who try and gather evidence of illegal hunting, and who suffer verbal and physical abuse from hunt supporters.  A more clear cut law with less onerously demanding levels of evidence being required (i.e. which is needed at present to try and show actual "intent") would mean the monitors would be in a less dangerous position.

What is the legal opinion on POWA's proposed amendments?

POWA's legal advisor has carefully considered and endorsed the proposed amendments and fully supports POWA's contention that these five simple changes to the Hunting Act will help strengthen the current legislation and make it far easier to enforce.

(See 'At a Glance Guide', http://www.powa.org.uk/glance.html )

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